Tag Archives: Money Trouble

you can start with nothing,

and out of nothing and nowhere, you will find a way

if you sink low enough you could live in a building like this

Although I have been putting them on this blog for ages, I never understood quotations like the one at the top of this page, probably because I didn’t read them properly, and never took the time to think about them carefully enough. The little bit I thought I understood about self-help, self-development, self-denial, and spirituality I found to be rather twee, overly religious, and happy clappy churchy. How pretentious of me.

The modern church is producing passionate people with empty heads who love the Jesus they don’t know very well. ~ Voddie Baucham.

The same dismissive attitude applied if ever I attended a self-help group, but in all honesty I put that down to the fact that I dislike intensely all clubs, groups, associations….. In fact I don’t much like being any place with a bunch of weirdos who have a committee and a ‘chair’ because I very quickly get totally unimpressed.

And yet, I always felt that I was drifting through my dysfunctional life, with just the occasional passage of being; a very cool guy, living a really great life to keep me sane and interested. I was a mess, and the worst part was that I knew I had it in me to be a far, far better man than I had ever been before. Some things I had already accomplished, I still have a cool roof over my head living in the garret, I have money in the bank, and generally speaking I’m pretty fit, strong and healthy. (Admittedly I only just got of hospital, where they said I looked like a bad advertisement for death.) But, generally, as my school reports and annual reviews at work usually read; He could do better if he tried.

As you’ve sought out my blog, then maybe you think there are some parts of your life that aren’t looking so good either. And, that you could do a whole lot better if you tried.

The place to start is to stop doing all those things that completely fuck up your life.

stop lurching from one disastrous relationship after another

stop all that promiscuous casual sex that makes everyone with even an ounce of morality think you’re a cheap slut

stop the drunkeness, drug taking, smoking, smoking pot

give up the gambling, the impulsive buying of things you don’t need or want, spending and wasting a shit load of money you don’t have

stop driving that junker of a car that gets you a ticket every time a cop can be bothered to pull you over

stop getting yourself fired, or walking out on jobs you can’t afford to lose

stop alienating your family and true friends, just because they might tell you the brutal truth about yourself

stop being a total fucked-up jerk

Some say that there is a little good in all of us. And, that if you dig deep enough you will always find a treasure. All I know is that when I stopped being a total fucked-up jerk my life suddenly got much better.

~

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net

selling yourself and your self-respect isn’t a good way to escape your fucked-up life

being in control of your finances is a great stress reliever

There are four sets of reasons that may have caused your money troubles;

Misfortune. This is not your fault, You may have lost your job, have uninsured medical expenses, your ex may have never paid child maintenance, your water heater may have exploded in a cloud of steam…..

Laziness and Stupidity. You never open your mail, you don’t check your balance when you withdraw cash from the ATM, you can’t be bothered to balance your cheque book, you don’t bother to look for the thriftier items when you go to the supermarket…..

Compulsive Spending. You max out your credit cards and then get another, your favorite pastime is shopping, when you’re stressed you go shopping, you buy shoes you will never wear, you’ve bought a car you can’t afford, you buy stuff you don’t really want, need, or already have…..

Addictions. Maybe this is where things get really, really bad. You’re a drunk and you spend a fortune on booze in bars and supermarkets. You’re a drug addict, you’re always jonesing for your drug of choice, and you would do anything to get your next fix, including spending the rent on coke. You’re a gambler and when you’re in a casino you lose track of time and money. You’re a sex addict and pay for a fuck or a suck, and you’re addicted to on-line porn and sex-chat…..

So you’re flat broke, have bills to pay, and you are very, very stressed, suicidally so. So WTF can you do?

Stay calm, make yourself a cup of tea, sit down, get a pen and paper and make some notes.

Work out exactly how much you owe in outstanding debt, including all your credit cards, parking fines ~ basically write down and add up every single penny you owe. Depressing isn’t it?

Work out exactly how much is the bare minimum amount a month you need to live on, including food, rent, utilities, car repayments, insurance, parking, and petrol, (gas). Compare that with how much you’ve got coming in, and if you’ve got less coming in than you will have going out, find something on your list you don’t need to buy.

Find the nearest discount grocery store, and resolve to shop nowhere but there in future, and to buy only their cheapest stuff, providing it’s nutritious.

Contact your bank, finance, and credit card companies and see if they can help you by deferring or reducing repayments.

STOP FUCKING BUYING NON ESSENTIAL STUFF. If you have to, then cut up all your credit cards.

Find a way to recover from your addiction. If you have to go to a couple of AA, or NA, or GA meetings a day then get your butt down there. Take part. STOP doing whatever it is that you’re addicted to; if it’s booze or drugs you may need medical help.

Some say that something good will turn up soon. And that the Micawber Principle is a load of bullshit anyway. All I know is that one shouldn’t throw good money down the drain.